


Shinde wo Kudasai

by Noid



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Horror/Mystery, My own story - Freeform, Mythology - Freeform, Old Japan, Project, Sensitive topics will remain subtle, Slow To Update, Yôkai, will not be continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-15 03:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noid/pseuds/Noid
Summary: A young miko and her companion, a powerless Tsuchigumo, must travel to help make amends that were left behind in the world of the living and the world of the dead. Not everything is as it seems and not every lie is true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a trial chapter. More could be added on, taken away, or remain not edited at all. This is inspired by Japanese culture so some of it may be wrong. Please feel free to correct:
> 
> \- Typos  
> \- Culture  
> \- Words  
> \- Names
> 
> Thank you!

"We thank you for partaking in the birthing ceremony, Priestess." The old farmer, with kind eyes and a wrinkled smile, bowed at the waist as she left the tent, a hand still touching the drapery of the enclosed space. "You have done us all a great service in helping with the arrival of my grandson."

The priestess served the farmer a smile then bowed her head, feeling the crisp air of the rainy weather. It was hot in the tent where so many people had gathered around and now she was outside, it was a wonderful feeling to have the cool air on the back of her neck. "It is my pleasure to offer my services to the townsfolk. Please do not hesitate to call upon me if you need anything." From inside, as she straightened, the soft cooing of a sleepy newborn and an exhausted mother came from her left, even as the drapery was closed.

She pulled up the veiled sedge hat which obscured her face and almost the rest of her kimono before she turned to bow once more. The farmer bowed deeply then returned to the cot where his daughter resided, clearly looking forward to spending time with the family he cherished. The miko smiled and carried on, keeping a hand on the edge of the mushi-no tareginu.

Despite the rain, she adored the sights around her as she walked. Rice fields were high and currently abandoned to avoid the rainy season. Water trickled in little pools, trailing down towards the dirt road that she walked. Small crickets chirped freely in the darkened day, hopping to-and-fro to explore the world for food and to reproduce. They sung like the birds up within the blooming trees who shook like Shiba Inu to remove the rainwater.

As she looked up, glowing brightly against the sky was a male bluebird, who sang his tune and preened his feathers. Beside him was a female, who was considerably less bright She preened as well before settling on a branch next to her mate, singing with him without a care in the world. The miko smiled a little more before turning away to walk back to the shrine of which she stayed at, geta clicking oh-so-slightly on the dirt pathway.

The little farmers' village was quaint yet large. It was neat and orderly, with many families settling on having many children or at least two. Many fished in the creeks and rivers nearby while both women and men tended to the expansive rice fields. Even in this dreary evening, she could see footprints of the children who ran along the muddy edge, playing with straw dolls and with large sticks. The boys enjoyed fighting like samurai, following the code of bushido warriors and pretended to die valiantly in the mud while their sisters and future wives sewed and worked diligently, only to feign tears of the news.

She sighed and shook her head.

"You're being very dreamy, Priestess." The voice came from her shoulder, bearing no empathy at all for her distant thoughts. She glanced up to see eight, large eyes staring at her face, a pair of fangs twitching in boredom at her.

"Oh, am I?" The miko turned to face forward. "Perhaps I am, Joro. What would you make of it, then? You don't seem to particularly like the idea, Joro-chan."

A pair of front legs swatted at her collarbone irritably.

"Of course not! You must be as aware of your surroundings at all times. This is a day where daydreaming is nothing to be doing! Not with your job." The priestess brought up a finger to softly scratch beneath the exposed chin of the Tsuchigumo, who seemed very annoyed at the affection. Nonetheless, the spider grumbled and fell into the palm of the miko, who giggled and brought the spider beneath her bosom, protecting them from the rain. "You will regret the day I get back my form and eat your entrails for dinner, miko. I'll have you poisoned and on the brink of death- _Stop petting me!"_

The priestess smiled as she walked up the steps of her shrine, feeling blessed just by walking beneath the sealing tags that kept the place free of any other disturbing presences. As her nail continued to scratch the coarse chin of the spider, she attempted to hop out of her geta as fluidly as possible and land on the raised floor, where the wood was clean and polished.

Due to her childish maneuver and the slickness of her socks, her attempt was not successful in the slightest. Her heels slid forward fast and she fell immediately against the sharp edge of the polished wood. The hemp hat fell against the muddy getas, leaving a muddy streak along the white veil. With a groan, she blindly tried to feel for the floor with her fingertips to push herself up off the sharp edge, feeling a new bruise already forming across her shoulder blades.

Angrily clinging to her outstretched leg was the Tsuchigumo, whose large eyes narrowed while their front feelers waved around. "Do you mind, woman!? You almost squished me! What do you think you're trying to do, eh!?" The angry spider speedily crawled up across her breasts, fangs twitching as irritable as ever.

The miko simply smiled, giggling at her little slip-up. All at once, the spider felt the anger leave as they sighed, looking exasperated. "You are a weird woman." Eight legs clung for dear life against the kimono as the priestess stood, reaching down to upright her geta shoes and to pick up her mushi-no tareginu. There was a long streak of mud along the flowing veil on the right side. Though it was thin, it was already drying from the cold wind of the rainy season. It would be very hard to get out. As she studied the fabric, a hand supported the large abdomen of the Tsuchigumo, who also criticized the ruined fabric with all eight eyes.

"Great. Now, what are you going to do?"

She turned the hat from side to side before bringing it properly inside, not answering the small arachnid. Once inside, the strong smell of incense and ashes burned her nostrils pleasantly while the yokai hissed and spun around in irritable circles along her palm, clearly finding the smell distasteful. She set the yokai down on the hardwood floor before disappearing behind a tapestry to diligently wipe at the veil.

Outside, the wind softly whistled as the rain beat against the windows and the wooden shrine as she worked in the candlelight from the small dresser. The flames danced of their own accord as she worked. Every now and then in the silence of the oncoming night, she looked up and out towards the fields, overlooking the many homes and thatch-roof houses. Many, if not all, had fires going for food and warmth against the cool winds. There was an orange glow to every window, whether from fireplace or candlelight while smoke crawled from the mud and stone chimneys.

One window was darkened with a silhouette, the orange glowing surrounding it like an aura. Her hands stopped, the rag hanging loosely in her palm. Joro looked up from their own webbing in the corner, wiggling their butt to get comfy.

"What?" they asked, sneering. "Daydreaming again, woman? You're going to get killed if you do that. You female peeping tom!" The miko didn't answer and the arachnid grew slightly uncomfortable at her lack of expression. Like a ghost, she simply stared without blinking, her lips set like those of a stone statue and eyes open.

The yokai leaped from their web, swinging to-and-fro before landing on her shoulder, spitting out small strands of her hair. "What are you staring at? Quit that!" They turned to look out the window. Once they saw the frame, they seemed to understand as they hummed. "Ooooh, it's a stranger in a familiar land, ehhh?" Two legs poked the visible neck of the priestess who still hadn't moved. Honestly, it wasn't a natural expression for the miko to have and seeing her not move at all was unnerving, even for the small arachnid monster. With a wiggle of their butt, they leaped for the curtains, pulling them down in front of the window by the drawstring of straw.

Her head snapped back instantly as if she had been slapped against the underside of her chin, a wheeze scarcely slipping between her teeth and parted lips. The yokai dropped down, moving to tug on her kimono sleeve as aggressively as possible.

"Hey, come back to your senses! You stupid woman, wake up!"

With a thud, the priestess collapsed back against the floor, her eyes rolling back before fluttering shut. The Tsuchigumo crept backward slightly then crawled forward, tapping their legs on her face. They continued to yell, trying to get the priestess awake but it all seemed to no avail.

A harsh wind flew through the shrine, reaching every candle and snuffing it out like the heart of a moth. They stepped back off of the unconscious body of the miko, crouching down to crawl over towards the door. In the new silence of the shrine, save for the soothing sounds of rain, they sat there, watching the shrine steps with slit eyes and bared fangs.

Sloppy, heavy sounds came up from the steps, sounding as if something was sopping wet and full of thick mud. A corpse rose from the edge of the marble steps, twisted neck dangling like a broken finger while their right hand clutched a black bag. It was swollen in several places, like an old crone's nose with warts upon warts. They could have sworn that it moved in several places.

It stood still in the entryway, white eyes grotesquely rolling with mucus to see the overarching barrier wards that kept the shrine safe. Thin lips drew close as they turned away, thudding back down the steps with its bag in tow. "My baby... my baby... my child... my child... oh...sweet one... my baby... my baby..."

Joro slowly sat down against the wooden frame, looking back towards the priestess as the words of the mummified woman continued until it was mixed with the hearty drumming of the rain.

"What did you see, Hana...? What did you _see_?"


	2. Ame Ame

"You don't remember a thing, then?" Joro asked, weaving their webbing back up in the corner of the window where the morning sun shined like the scales of a koi. The smell of hot, green tea awakened the old shrine to life and the priestess breathed it in, letting the steam of boiled water wash over her face. It removed the grey fatigue she had felt upon opening her eyes that very dawn and the ache of her headache temporarily faded in the midst of it. Despite her sore body and a strange sense of muggy gloom, she had poured herself her usual cup of tea and sipped it gingerly, pondering the early morning question of the Tsuchigumo. 

Nothing came to mind as she tried to remember the reason of blacking out. There were small, wavering ideas that breathed themselves away into forgetfulness, leaving her pondering still and grasping for nothing. The earthy flavor of tea brought her back from her thoughts as she sipped it, soon sighing in contempt as she glanced out to where the shrine stairs sat in stillness with the sunrise.

"I don't remember anything." Her eyes closed as she leaned her head back, attempting to recall the position she had fallen in last night. "Sometimes I hear the rain and a crash of thunder. There's a chill but I know it had not come from the wind that night." Behind her eyelids, she swore she saw something dancing away from her, like a word falling away from the tip of the tongue.

The sound of the Tsuchigumo falling onto the hardwood floor made her look up, eyeing the skeptical eyes of the arachnid. Like a strange dog, they sat back on their large abdomen and let their back legs flatten behind them comically. 

"You're not wrong," they replied, their voice trailing into a murmur. "You were just staring at this figure in the window. Do you even remember that? Or even who they could have been?" 

She stared at the yokai for a very long moment, watching their head tip to one side and their front legs tapping a little impatiently. Slowly, a smile appeared on her face and then a soft laugh. The spider looked incredulous as they got up, skittering around in a line out of confusion.

"What, what!?"

The miko shook her head, a hand coming away from her teacup to hide her mouth, eyes twinkling in delight. "I'm sorry, Joro. I just wasn't aware of how much you were worried about me." 

She laughed harder as the spider fell back against their haunches further and then fell onto their back, groaning loudly in exasperation. 

Afterward, the rest of the village woke to tend to their gardens and the fields. In the slight distance, the happy cry of siblings joined in with the sound of opening doors and swinging bamboo shutters. As she stood, feeling her bruised back more than ever, she wandered over to the window of her bedroom, where she could see everyone that was coming from the east towards the shrine. In hands of many were tools of the farmers and the fishing rods of those who traveled a ways to fish for salmon and creek minnow. 

Three people passed by the area every day and gave their thanks to the shrine, speaking with the priestess and asking for her blessings on them and their children. They were all unique, no matter if they lived in the same village or not. Similarities were there, yes, but they all had this wonderful shine to their faces when they smiled.

The ring of the front bell sounded loudly from the front and she knew that the children were already up the front steps to try and get her attention. Fastening her kimono a bit more tightly, she took her warm cup of tea with her over towards the shrine entry, smiling broadly. Joro had already skittered up her robe sleeves, hiding in a little pocket she had sewn for them a long while back. They didn't necessarily like children but that was the opposite notion for the priestess who watched five young faces, fresh from their yesterday baths, exchange glances of excitement and glee to one another. 

"Hana-sama," spoke one, holding up a small vase of hand-picked flowers, "these are for you and the shrine!" Hana switched her hand positioning to hold the cup of tea in one and then the small vase of flowers in the other. It was handmade from clay. It was as smooth as a child could make it, colored with flower petals and grass amongst the grey texture. From here, she could even see the little fingerprints of their hard work.

"Thank you, Tsubosu. They're very lovely flowers and I really love the vase." She watched him beam as brightly as the moon and her heart filled with warmth. 

Behind the spontaneous children were parents. One a fisherman, the second a farmer and the third a woman with a newborn in her arms. One by one, she gave her blessings under the shrine to them and they to her before leaving. All five children were first to see themselves out, looking forward to working with their parents and playing games in the dirt. The woman came up to her last, clearly looking for some privacy. The way her eyes shifted caused the miko great concern up until she approached her on the steps. 

"Thank you for helping with my labor, priestess." Her eyes watered, glistening with tears that highlighted the bags beneath her eyes. "There is no power in my heart to thank you for what you've done."

Hana held up three fingers on her left hand before briefly departing from their conversation, laying down both the vase and the cup of tea before returning. As she walked back, a voice spoke to her, muffled from the fabric of her kimono. "She's not supposed to be walking so soon after childbirth. There's something really wrong going on here."

This was true. Women, after childbirth, were usually prone to stay in bed at least a few days later. The process was obviously painful and not many women were capable of being able to live through that sort of ceremony. It was unbearable and she was thankful she wasn't going to be able to go through such a thing later. At least, that was what she had planned.

"What is wrong?" 

"May I come in and share some tea with you? Only briefly." Her eyes darted around to look behind her before she looked back. "Please."

Hana didn't pause at all to let the woman in by standing to one side. "Shall I make tea for you?" She held out her arm, letting the young woman take it with a nervous hand. She looked as if she was really struggling to keep herself standing as she took off her shoes then walked up the single step to the polished floorboards. 

"I don't wish to burden you further, Priestess." As the young mother let go of her arm, Hana smiled and shook her head, taking up her own warm cup of tea to set it on the small kotatsu. The warmth might help keep her uterus and stomach at ease after her walk to the shrine. She excused herself with a quick bow before walking towards the kitchen, moving to boil the water from the bucket of rainwater she had collected yesterday. The Tsuchigumo crawled their way out of her sleeve, moving to settle carefully on the nearby table that held numerous rags and a box of food supplies. 

"It must have something to do with last night." Their legs tucked under them as the fire blazed relatively moderately beneath the pot. "Doesn't she live there? You need to concern yourself more with this!" Hana looked up from the pot for only a moment before turning away to drop it carefully back down by the wooden handle, soon kneeling delicately on the wooden floor. 

Her eyes closed for a moment as she breathed in deeply through her nose, sighing as she spoke. "I have yet to become fully concerned. As of now, there is nothing that I know of that will necessarily harm anyone in this village. Unless she proclaims that her family is in physical danger, then I will move to confront the shadow." There was no time to spare for silly things. If there was a rumor that something bad was happening in a household, they could be shunned or ridiculed for their silly thoughts of ghosts, even if the shrine was here for that reason. 

This little coincidence was something she could not afford to jump into like it was certainly going to be something. 

The priestess opened her eyes, seeing the Tsuchigumo looking completely miffed and awed with her choice. Hana gave them no time to recollect as the water was already beginning to simmer, about a minute or so away from boiling properly. She moved to her feet in a heartbeat to gather green tea leaves and gently push them against the bottom of the cup, making a small wreath. There was no need for it to be done so neatly, but it left her time to focus on something else other than an overreaction. It kept her busy and it stayed fairly well until they had to be taken out from the steeping time. 

With the cup in hand and the small kettle of boiling water, she removed herself from the kitchen to walk back to the small living space.

Once comfortably seated, the priestess sipped her cooling drink while the young wife stared at hers, seeming immobile. It was a long, dragged silence between them. Hana didn't mind but she also decided that if there was something on the woman's mind, then she would have to initiate.

"You're troubled by something. Why are you not in bed and resting while your husband hunts?"

Hana watched the woman's dark eyes shift left and right before she breathed through her nose and sighed heavily. 

"I cannot sleep," she began, looking at the child that was wrapped in cloth around her breast. "Something plagues me and constantly tells me that there is something wrong. I fear to leave the child alone at all times."

"There is nothing wrong with that," said Hana. "As a new mother, your responsibility is the child and there is a natural sense of keeping him from harm. That is the duty of a woman."

The new mother shook her head. "That's not it. I feel like there is a sense of gloom ever since my grandfather and his wife left for their own home." Her eyes glistened with tears. "I slept not at all last night. There was this fear that if I left my child alone with the dark for even a minute, I would lose him."

Hot tears streamed down her face as freely as the rain from last night. She set the tea down to use a hand to cover her eyes with her sleeve, trembling now with quiet sobs. "Even when I was giving birth and the rain pounded our cottage, I had sensed this over-bearing fear of letting my child out from my womb. With all my heart, I wanted to keep my baby inside of me and not let it go but the pain was too much."

Hana's pale face kept stoic as she listened. "Did you not want the child then?" She brought the tea to her lips. "That's only understandable, but it is the job we all must come to."

The woman looked up in such a shock that Hana flinched. 

"You don't understand my fear? Has your compassion disappeared with the rain of last night?" She seemed to bristle with anger, even though tears fell from her eyes. "I love my baby. Of course I want my child, and I wanted him then. I'm proud of what my husband and I have done, but if you believe I'm somehow mad from childbirth, then you are not a priestess I want if you possess such selfish thoughts."

Wiping her face, she stood up with a hobble and limped back to where her shoes were. 

Despite the initial shock, Hana quickly moved to her feet, hoping to escort her out. There was a numb feeling in the front of her face and she wondered if she was blushing from the shame the woman had bestowed on her. 

The woman turned to look at her, face sour while a hand had slipped around her child, almost protectively. Then, her furrowed brows lessened and her eyes softened. Eventually, she turned away and let Hana help her into her shoes and then down the stairs. No words were said and the silence was brutally cutting into the heart of the miko.

Surely the fear wasn't that bad, right?

In silence, the priestess prayed and kept incense lit. The morning slowly breached into noon and the sun blazed warmly. Hana sat in the stillness of the day, listening slightly to the mid-day wind. The sharpness of the incense helped keep her mind steady on the prayer but a part of her was ill. A fear was coiling up inside her as she wondered where her many-legged companion skittered off to. They could not hide very well given their size and not many people were very fond of the eight-legged creatures from the start.

There was a connection.

Opening her eyes, she stretched her palms across her knees then up above her head with a sigh, feeling her muscles warm up. After her stretch, she bowed her head, still feeling shame blushing over her fair cheeks. Her brows were furrowed for quite some time as she began to conclude what could possibly be up. What could it even be? Was it a delusional state of mind? A fever? Something actually unknown?

A voice filled her head, familiar and warm. _Always be aware of the unknown._

She could see the round and wrinkled face of her obaa-chan, who would held a permanent smile on her thin lips. _If you are ever to be devoted to something, try to feel someone's shoes and then walk in them. Your argument is never better unless you know the person's feelings._

Hana ran her hands over her face before she stood up. It was a long few minutes of walking, thoughtfulness and splashing her face twice with the cold water from the creek. Maybe the cold water would refresh her ideas and memories. Just maybe it would help her think of what to do and how to react. 

With a third splash of the cold water against her face, she openly watched the water drip from her lashes, falling languidly into the creek water that ran by. A distorted image of herself was all that started back at her, transparent against the muddy rocks that laid beneath. Drop after drop disappeared as she breathed in the forest air and then exhaled warmly, centering herself as peacefully as possible.

The image, as she shifted a little, followed with her until it was almost an entire black blob of nothingness. She shifted again and watched in almost childlike desire, soon observing a widening mouth with crooked teeth and rolling eyes.

She shot back from the water immediately, holding a hand against her chest as her heart fluttered to her throat. For a moment, she recoiled from the image in her mind before she scrambled forward to check it once again, hair spilling over her shoulders. 

Nothing but her reflection stared back at her in bewilderment.

Hana brought her hands up to her eyes, rubbing at them roughly before staring back again, trying hard to focus on the reflection, to see if it would turn into that black mass again. Even as she sat there for several solid minutes, there was no change to be found in the ripples, the rocks nor the mud. Nothing had changed, even in the slightest. 

The rumble of distant thumber echoed. She looked up, seeing dark clouds rolling in from the mountains.

"Hey." 

Hana jumped and got to her feet in one swift motion. Nearby her location, not 5 steps away, was a young man. His hair was pulled up into a small ponytail and his sun-kissed skin glowed from fieldwork, even under the shade of the trees. She watched his surprised expression turn into a warm smile as he began to jest lightly.

"I thought priestesses around here didn't leave their shrines." Reflexively, Hana gave a short bow in greeting and spoke as softly as she could.

"Some don't, some do. It depends on the matters at hand. Seeing as I live alone and the day has passed by in quiet, I have ventured away."

He shrugged, switching his fishing rod to another shoulder. "So, what are you out here for, priestess? Your hair is wet. Washing your face?"

She paused and then shook her head, rubbing at her eyes damp eyelids for a moment. "Not quite. The water inside is not cool so I wanted to calm down using the cold temperatures here. Although..." Another rumble of thunder made them both look up and the man laughed boisterously. She looked to him and he spoke with a flamboyant smile.

"The rain is good luck for this village. Never is there a day where rain brings illness, right?" 

Hana dismissed herself shortly after, his words echoing through her head like an old mantra from her previous teachers. _Never is there a day where rain brings illness._ For some reason, it stuck with her more than ever. Once again, her uneasy thoughts went to the tired wife. Hana felt herself cringe, still seeing those moist eyes of anger focusing on her. Shame flushed her cheeks again and she hurried back inside, feeling the oncoming storm winds flying up the steps, even as she kicked off her shoes. 

"Where were you, eh?"

She looked up as she slipped off her geta, eyeing the fat spider on the floor. The Tsuchigumo appeared, as per usual, bored but also surprisingly euphoric. It appeared they must have had a good breakfast as they were appearing very withdrawn and not focusing on the situation. 

Hana peered at those rolling orbs of eight before she turned away, walking away to pray some more that day. The Tsuchigumo followed a little more slowly than usual, still pestering her as they both walked towards the shrine's altar. 

"Heyyy. Hey! What's got your ribbons in a knot? Did that woman come back and give you nasty words, hm? Or maybe..." Hana turned in time to see their butt wiggle as two legs gestured to the blackened clouds beginning to creep fast on the town. "Or maybe it's the storm that's approaching. Is that it? Can't get your mind off of that?"

Hana slumped down onto her cushioned seat, heaving a tired sigh that even caught the arachnid off guard. The small pitter-patter of feet on the wooden floor and then the little tug on her sleeve made her look down. The Tsuchigumo, seeing her attention was grabbed, began to climb up her arm to nestle comfortably on her shoulder, having easy access to the curtain of hair and her ear. 

"I didn't know you felt so affected by that early morning lecture, woman." 

For a long time, the miko didn't speak. Only when she received a swift bite to the shoulder did she flinched and attempt to crane her neck to see her friend, feeling blood welling up and the skin becoming inflamed from being opened. With a 'hmph' the Tsuchigumo nestled right on the newfound bite it left as it stared at her, all eight eyes glowing in the remaining light of the sun from the windows. 

"Focus. This is no time to sulk. You want good things to happen, right? Then maybe you should start doing something instead of waiting around for a really big excuse to come along. Remember what you trained for, woman!" The spider wiggled their backside. "Don't let your training go to waste. Don't you all spend seven years with this priestess stupidity?"

The miko looked to her friend, eyebrows slightly furrowed. They were right, though. She turned away, eyeing the last burned incense. It was now ashes and she recalled a slightly faint time where she spoke with her grandmother. Where she would light old incense that was saved beneath the floorboards and tell her of the times she was skeptical or afraid. Thinking back now, she still wondered what on Earth her obaa-chan was scared of. There was nothing to be scared of because everything was so simply put together by shadows and the wind. Never had she seen any nasty yokai, never had she been supported by a kami of any kind after her intiation.

She breathed in slowly and looked upward, taking in the musky scent of the long-burnt ashes of the incense. It was all her imagination.

Even so, even as she knew nothing was there, there was still something that was undeniably wrong. 

"You're real, right? Joro-chan?" Hana didn't look to them but she could feel every hair on their body raise in shock.

"W-Wha-- Of COURSE I'm real, you stupid woman! I will bite you again, I swear it! Maybe I'll feed you to the other yokai, eh, EHH?" Joro immediately nipped at her ear, then her neck and bit harder and harder. She squealed and immediately reached up to brush her spider friend off of her shoulder. They continued to bite each finger until she was on the floor, clutching the left side of her neck in pain and cradling her bleeding hand. 

They dropped to the ground with her, huffing loudly and crawling fast towards her face. Hana cringed and held her hands up, showing much more emotion on her face than ever before. She was prepared to be bitten more and more, but even still, she had no will to hurt her friend, one of the only few she had, even in this village.

The silence of nothing caused her to open her eyes. Like a waiting puppy, the Tsuchigumo sat on the little bridge her fingers made, legs dangling and eyes observing. 

"You have a job to do. Don't be dumb."

With that little quip, Joro scooted her fingers apart to nestle themselves against her collarbone as she laid on the floor. From there, they could feel her heartbeat and hear her breathing. She watched them for a little while before resting her head, cringing at the new marks having healed up slightly. The stretching of the blood clots on her neck felt absolutely awful, like stretching with dried skin on your arms after a harmful sunburn. 

Rain began to beat on the tops of the shrine. 

Hana sat up, cupping her spider friend in her throbbing palm and holding them back to her chest. She didn't mind their close proximity, after all. 

"I'll need to light candles then."

"Better do it quick before it comes back."

Hana looked down at the Tsuchigumo. They looked back up at her as she began to smoothly light candles. "Oh, you want to hear about it now, do ya? Where a woman came in asking for her baby, soaked in rain water?" They began hoping up and down on her palm, looking both excited and uneasy. Every now and then with each jump, she winced, feeling her sore fingers inflammation. She supposed that was her punishment.

"What do you think it was? Just...a woman?" Another candle was lit, swaying with the slight breeze of her breath.

"A nasty one," they replied. "Looked like she hadn't seen the sun in ages. I hate those kind."

"So you know what she is." Hana looked down. Joro managed some sort of leg shrug.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out. I'm not the priestess here."

The miko supposed that was true. Did she really have to learn this whole-heartedly though? 

She came around to her room, where the veiled hat still remained albeit a little sullied. Lighting the last candle, she gingerly fingered the veil, eyeing the stain of mud. A soft sigh left her out of habit before she picked it up to lay it more properly in the correct place, passing by the window. Out of curiosity, Hana glanced up, hoping to eye nothing in the window except for the softest drizzles of rain. 

Standing still in the window of the wives' home was a silhouette, as dark as the reflection in the water that day. Rolling eyes blinked white before becoming lop-sided in their sockets, a film slipping loose from the iris and dripping down towards the floor.

A bite on her palm brought her attention back to reality as she squealed once again, looking at the Tsuchigumo. They were bouncing up and down.

"Go, go, go! That's the house, _that's the HOUSE!!"_ Never had she heard her spider friend get so frantic and yell in such a tone. It sent her outside in seconds, with her hat up over her head, shoes slipped on and her footwork fast. Several times, she almost fell as lightning crashed what felt like behind her. 

The mud sprayed up against her hakama as the rain began to uptake itself on a challenge. Temperatures dropped to where each spray of cold wind came along with it several drops of icy rainwater. With a hand on the mushi-no tareginu, she spun nearly into the door of the home, eyeing the old drapes and the bucket of water that remained since her last and first visit. She knocked once and the door swung open on loose hinges, squeaking audibly. An icy feeling in her heart expanded and she almost didn't move. 

Sobbing echoed from down the hall and she moved fast, slipping her geta off clumsily and sprinting inside. On the floor, sitting past the kotatsu was the young wife, looking even more beaten than yesterday. Beside her was her husband, who was the same man she had seen that very day. He was clearly consoling her before he noticed the miko, who appeared breathless, messy and as wide-eyed as a newborn toddler.

"Priestess!" He moved to stand, his eyes as wide as hers, even as he bowed at the waist. His wife interrupted him, standing fiercely and pointing with a shaking finger.

"You! You did this! Didn't you!? My baby is gone because of you!" Outside, the wind howled, as if mourning with the wife of this tragic disappearance. 

Her husband turned, paling fast. "Hozumi! What are you saying!? She is here because she has a connection with the Gods and came to help." Steadily, he pulled her back into his arms, looking at Hana desperately.

The miko looked up, eyeing the home for a moment before quietly excusing herself. With a quick turn, she walked towards the part of the house that faced the window of the shrine. It didn't take her long to find it as she opened the door to bypass it. The stench of raw rain, mold, and decay wafted up viciously into her nose, causing her to step back and holding her sleeve up to her face. It was almost overwhelming and she could see the new crib, toys and a black stain of a figure on the window. Pooling at the front of it was rain as if someone had stood there with a heavy bag. 

Keeping her sleeve up, she approached the window, pulling a hand up to wipe at the stain. It came off slightly and she could smell the mold even more. With a cringe, she held her breath and looked outside, eyeing the pouring rain. 

In the far distance was disfigured rain, where the frame of a woman could be seen. She was almost nothing more than a ghoulish fog. 

Hana turned and sprinted once again, causing a squeak of surprise from the inside of her sleeve. 

"Priestess!?" She heard him call and she turned only as she slipped her geta on.

"Stay inside! Lock the doors if you can and let no one else come in until the rain passes!"

She had to catch this woman. Now.


End file.
